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Ali's first book, which a publisher asked him to write (2020)

project history · status: running · last event: milestone (2021-10-20) · owner: Ali

Parts: Ali promises a rough 70,000-word draft of his book for his editor by 15 February (2021) · Ali promises a mailing list with behind-the-scenes emails on writing his book once or twice a week (2021) · Ali promises to use Brandon Sanderson's "find a way to enjoy it" as the quote for his book (2021) · Ali expects his book to come out in about two years (2021)

Told alongside: Ali builds a team for his online business · Ali's one-year sabbatical from medicine (2020) · On a Zoom call Ali and Angus plan the final details of the Part-Time YouTuber Academy, a four-week live interactive course Ali runs for the first time from next week (week of 16 November 2020).

date event what video
2020-12-20 announced Ali may be writing a book and says he will tell viewers more about it later, with details going to his email list. (hedged) 20 Lessons that Improved My Life 00:02:09
2021-01-03 milestone Writing a book is on Ali's bucket list for 2021. The Most PRODUCTIVE Thing I Do Each Year 00:11:06
2021-01-06 milestone Ali has a book deal for a book loosely themed around meaningful productivity; he has started writing it and it is going reasonably well. My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) 00:00:00
2021-01-20 milestone Ali is writing a book and has set himself the goal of writing 2,000 words a day, usually in the mornings after his art lessons. A RIDICULOUSLY Productive Day in my Life 00:00:58
2021-01-24 milestone The book Ali is writing is the top project in his Things 3 list, with tasks to reach out to various people about it. My Favourite iPad Productivity Apps 00:06:23
2021-01-27 milestone Ali always keeps two pads on his desk: one only for the book he is writing, one for general thoughts. The Most PRODUCTIVE Desk Setups on YouTube 00:00:55
2021-01-31 milestone Ali realised that the question of the point of productivity, once work is optional, is one of the angles he wants to explore in his book. How To Beat Imposter Syndrome 00:08:58
2021-02-14 looked back When a publisher approached Ali a few months earlier about writing a book, these fear-setting thoughts went through his mind and he was very scared. The Book That MOST Changed My Life 00:05:52
2021-02-18 (said on 2021-02-14, implied) setback On the podcast Ali talks about the emotional rollercoaster of his week, with lots of issues with the book he is writing. My INSANELY PRODUCTIVE Valentine's Day 00:01:27
2021-02-24 (happened 2020) looked back In summer 2020 an editor from a UK publishing house approached Ali asking whether he wanted to write a book about productivity, and Ali agreed. i wasted the last 6 months of my life… 00:00:00
2021-02-24 milestone Two or three weeks before this video Ali's book proposal reached a state he was happy with: a broad book on meaningful productivity and what makes a life meaningful, as a 30,000-word, 80-page document. i wasted the last 6 months of my life… 00:04:36
2021-02-24 setback Ali takes David Moldawer's constructive criticism to mean he must throw out the book proposal, start again and rework the concept from the ground up; many others said the same that week. i wasted the last 6 months of my life… 00:08:12
2021-02-26 milestone With the book he is writing, Ali is aiming to hit the New York Times bestseller list, though he feels dirty admitting it given the baggage authors say comes with that goal. Brandon Sanderson on Writing, Storytelling and Fantasy Books 01:04:17
2021-03-04 milestone Ali and his team write the blog posts for his website in Google Docs, and he spends most of his time there writing his book proposal and compiling research and notes for his book. My Favourite Mac Apps - What's on my Macbook Pro 00:02:31
2021-03-06 milestone Ali is experimenting with dictating the book he is writing while going on walks. How to Get Over a Productivity Slump #shorts 00:00:00
2021-03-08 milestone Ali thinks the book he is writing might be about the idea of finding fun in the things you do. (hedged) A STUPENDOUSLY Productive Day in my Life 00:04:24
2021-03-21 milestone Sheen helps Ali with ideas for his book: late at night, after a call with someone helping him with it, he writes on the whiteboard and she feeds him ideas. Relationships, Annoying Habits and More - Q&A with my Housemate 00:05:18
2021-03-24 milestone Ali has a book deal and is writing a book. My Toxic Relationship With Productivity 00:06:58
2021-04-18 milestone Ali is writing his book these days, and his protected morning time goes to writing it. How I Manage My Time - 10 Time Management Tips 00:06:32
2021-05-05 milestone Every morning from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ali has a protected block for writing his book, when his creative juices flow best; writing the book is the most important thing he could be doing with his time. How I Organize My Life - The "LAZI" Productivity System 00:01:35
2021-05-21 milestone Ali is in the middle of writing a book about productivity, and has spent the last few months thinking about what productivity actually means to him. 5 Essential Tips for Long-Lasting Productivity 00:00:00
2021-05-30 milestone Ali is writing a book, and part of his drafting is in Apple Pages, because it works well on both Mac and iPad. Why I Spent $28,402 on Apple Products This Year 00:10:39
2021-07-11 setback Ali's deep-work time goes to making progress on writing his book, which he has been struggling with for the last couple of months. How I ONLY Work 4 Hours a Day - How to Stay Focused 00:07:37
2021-07-28 setback For the last few weeks Ali has not made time to write the book he is supposed to be writing and has made no real progress on it, which he finds embarrassing. How I Created a $3 Million Business Part Time 00:14:58
2021-08-04 (happened 2021) milestone A few months before this video Ali had a phone call with Ryan Holiday to ask how to make the book he is writing a bestseller. The Greatest Enemy of Success - Ego is the Enemy 00:09:02
2021-08-08 milestone Ali's book is still at the book proposal stage: he struggles to write consistently, less from lack of motivation than lack of space in his calendar, since the book is important but not urgent. Dating, Regrets and Boxing - 2 Million Subscriber Q&A 00:22:34
2021-08-11 milestone Ali is researching how to make work more fun these days, and says it will all be in the book he is writing. How I Work for 15 hours and Not Get Bored 00:03:32
2021-09-29 milestone Ali is in the middle of writing his book and finds it easy to feel productive while spending two hours on mindless research and an hour browsing Twitter for writing inspiration, none of which puts words on the page. Why Positive Thinking is Bad for You 00:01:27
2021-10-08 milestone Ali says the book he is writing is about how to make things fun. The Best Book I've Ever Read about Making Money 00:12:40
2021-10-09 milestone With the book he is attempting to write, Ali finds that thinking about making it a bestseller sucks the fun out of it, while writing it for himself, enjoying the journey, gets more of it done. Helicopters, Travel and Film Making - A Conversation with Becki and Chris 00:16:15
2021-10-20 milestone Writing Ali's book is now under way. Everything's Changing - Life Update 00:12:37

Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).

What is said about it

52 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).

  • 2020-12-20 · 20 Lessons that Improved My Life — Ali: Earlier in 2020 a publisher asked Ali whether he would write a book; he nearly said no out of imposter syndrome, then named the feeling as fear and knew he had to say yes. — 00:00:58
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali: Writing his book feels scary to Ali: the path ahead is very uncertain, he does not know if he can do it, sitting down to write is a daily struggle, and he doubts it is good enough. — 00:00:25
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali: Books such as The 4-Hour Workweek, Derek Sivers's Anything You Want and Austin Kleon's Show Your Work had a huge impact on Ali's life; he would love his own book to come close to that impact on someone's life. — 00:00:54
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — announcement: Ali's SMART goal for his book: by 15 February 2021, a rough, messy draft of about 70,000 words to send to his editor for review. — 00:01:53
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali: The habit Ali needs for his book draft is writing 2,000 words every day for the next six weeks; 42 days would give him 80-odd thousand words. — 00:01:53
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali: The only way Ali would fail his book-draft goal is by missing his daily word count, and the first likely reason for that is time. (hedged) — 00:02:22
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali's third reason he might miss his daily word count is that he is probably massively underestimating how hard 2,000 words a day are: they might take him ten hours a day. (hedged) — 00:03:10
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali's writing coach, Azul (as heard), with whom he has had weekly sessions for several months, will hold him accountable for the book and give him emotional help when he struggles. — 00:04:08
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali: To stack the deck in his favour, Ali will time-block three hours a day for writing only, two in the morning and one in the evening, hoping his fast typing makes 2,000 words in that time doable. (hedged) — 00:05:07
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — announcement: Ali is setting up a mailing list on the behind the scenes of writing his book: once or twice a week he will email what he has been working on and struggling with. — 00:05:07
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali: Taking action right now, which Ali calls the most useful part of the exercise, he has committed with his writing coach and, while preparing the video, time-blocked three hours of writing every day until 15 February. — 00:05:57
  • 2021-01-20 · A RIDICULOUSLY Productive Day in my Life — Ali: For his book, Ali is doing a deep dive into social-science research on the similarities and differences between happiness and meaning. — 00:01:27
  • 2021-01-20 · A RIDICULOUSLY Productive Day in my Life — Ali ends his morning writing session for his book at 10.30, having written only around 700 words. — 00:01:56
  • 2021-01-20 · A RIDICULOUSLY Productive Day in my Life — Ali: In the evening Ali writes for his book for half an hour, researching the psychological counselling technique ACT. — 00:06:36
  • 2021-01-20 · A RIDICULOUSLY Productive Day in my Life — Ali: At 11 p.m., watching Friends, Ali still needs 1,350 words to reach his 2,000 for the day but cannot be bothered, and plans to make it up the next day. (playful) — 00:07:05
  • 2021-01-31 · How To Beat Imposter Syndrome — Ali feels imposter syndrome very strongly about the book he is in the process of writing. — 00:07:59
  • 2021-01-31 · How To Beat Imposter Syndrome — Ali: A few months before, an editor from Penguin UK approached Ali asking whether he was interested in writing a book about productivity. — 00:08:28
  • 2021-01-31 · How To Beat Imposter Syndrome — Ali's first reaction to Penguin UK's book offer was 'absolutely not': he thought he had nothing original to say about productivity and was only parroting the ideas of Tim Ferriss and David Allen in The 4-Hour Workweek and Getting Things Done. — 00:08:28
  • 2021-01-31 · How To Beat Imposter Syndrome — Ali told the writing coach helping him with his book that he did not see why anyone would listen to him, a 26-year-old who makes videos on the internet. — 00:09:27
  • 2021-01-31 · How To Beat Imposter Syndrome — Ali: The guide-rather-than-guru framing has helped Ali overcome some of his imposter syndrome about writing the book. — 00:10:18
  • 2021-01-31 · How To Beat Imposter Syndrome — Ali approaches his book by exploring with the reader what others have written and what studies show about meaning, purpose and how productivity fits into figuring out what to do with our lives. — 00:10:18
  • 2021-01-31 · How To Beat Imposter Syndrome — Ali: For his book Ali has been reading many scientific papers and books about meaning, values, vision and purpose, which help him figure out what he wants to do with his life. — 00:11:19
  • 2021-02-14 · The Book That MOST Changed My Life — Ali's reasoning on the book offer: the worst case, a book people dislike with bad reviews, is not the end of the world, and he would probably regret not doing it, so he should write it. (hedged) — 00:06:42
  • 2021-02-18 (said on 2021-02-14, implied) · My INSANELY PRODUCTIVE Valentine's Day — Ali: On the Not Overthinkers call Ali shares his struggles with his book and how bad the mean internet comments have made him feel; the community is very supportive. — 00:03:59
  • 2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali: At the start of January 2021, thinking himself a fast typist, Ali decided he could write 2,000 words of his book a day and announced it on Twitter and his email newsletter, and he thinks on Instagram too. — 00:01:30
  • 2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali: Hoping for a US book deal, Ali sent his book proposal to editors in America he knows through friends and internet colleagues; all of them said it was not very good and still needed a lot of work, a real blow to him. — 00:05:46
  • 2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali: On a call, Ali's writing coach Azul reminded him that he was supposed to be having fun writing the book and did not sound like he was; Ali agreed, and it changed his approach. — 00:11:01
  • 2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali has always found school, medical school, working as a doctor, his YouTube channel and his side businesses really fun, and writing his book started off really fun too. — 00:11:42
  • 2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali: After Azul's reminder Ali realised he had been taking his book too seriously, fixated on it being really good and, he admits with shame, on it becoming a New York Times bestseller. — 00:13:52
  • 2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali is going back to the drawing board with the concept of his book: it might stay close to the proposal, but he suspects it will change quite a lot. (hedged) — 00:15:29
  • 2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali is excited to throw out the last six months of work on his book, some of which may prove useful; he thinks all that work was necessary to reach the point of starting again. — 00:16:55
  • 2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali is writing his book to have fun, not to make money or become famous: it feels like an adventure and a challenge. — 00:17:20
  • 2021-02-28 · 10 cheap purchases that improved my life — Ali has been planning the book he is writing on a Pukka Pad Project kept on his desk at all times. — 00:02:53
  • 2021-03-04 · My Favourite Mac Apps - What's on my Macbook Pro — Ali and his team manage much of the research for his book in Notion, with research banks for every chapter and summaries of books they read; he is trying to make the book within the next two years. — 00:05:17
  • 2021-03-04 · My Favourite Mac Apps - What's on my Macbook Pro — Ali still uses Microsoft Word because his editor at the publishing house likes it: for the book they send Word files back and forth, though he uses Google Docs with his team for everything else. — 00:08:13
  • 2021-03-04 · My Favourite Mac Apps - What's on my Macbook Pro — Ali is doing many interviews and calls with people for his book; when someone says something interesting he marks it with a star emoji in Grain to find it later. — 00:10:39
  • 2021-03-08 · A STUPENDOUSLY Productive Day in my Life — announcement: Ali is running free Zoom co-working sessions every weekday for the next few months, for accountability and community while he writes his book; anyone can register to join for free. — 00:01:27
  • 2021-03-24 · My Toxic Relationship With Productivity — Ali is reading John McPhee's Draft No. 4, on the writing process, which he says is helping him learn how to write. — 00:06:29
  • 2021-03-24 · My Toxic Relationship With Productivity — Ali sees two goals for his book: writing the best book he can and is proud of, an input goal, or hitting the New York Times bestseller list, which he calls a dumb, arbitrary goal outside his control. — 00:06:58
  • 2021-03-24 · My Toxic Relationship With Productivity — Ali: Fixated on the New York Times bestseller list, Ali thought everything he wrote for his book was total junk and hated himself as he wrote. — 00:07:26
  • 2021-03-24 · My Toxic Relationship With Productivity — Ali: Though Ali would really like his book to be a New York Times bestseller, he squashes the thought: given the choice, he would choose writing a book he is proud of and likes. — 00:13:50
  • 2021-03-31 · How to Beat Procrastination — Ali feels no resistance to sitting down to play World of Warcraft but does to writing his book, which tells him writing the book is currently the most important thing for him to work on. — 00:02:26
  • 2021-03-31 · How to Beat Procrastination — Ali has recently been thinking about his book hitting the New York Times bestseller list; any thought of that outcome goal makes him procrastinate, while "write the best book I can" makes it easier. — 00:08:11
  • 2021-04-04 · 9 Lessons From My Favourite YouTuber — Ali: A few weeks before this video Ali forgot that writing his book was supposed to be fun and let stress and pressure about expectations build up, until his housemate reminded him he was supposed to be having fun. — 00:13:56
  • 2021-08-04 · The Greatest Enemy of Success - Ego is the Enemy — recommendation: Ryan Holiday (quoted): Ryan Holiday told Ali that asking how to make his book a bestseller was the wrong approach: write a really good book first, then turn to self-promotion and marketing. — 00:09:02
  • 2021-08-08 · Dating, Regrets and Boxing - 2 Million Subscriber Q&A — Ali: Another of Ali's current goals is writing a book, which has been ongoing for a while and is hard. — 00:12:21
  • 2021-08-18 · 10 Rules I Follow Everyday — Ali: Writing his book, Ali finds that thinking it must be a New York Times bestseller stops him writing at all; he makes progress when he just gets something messy on the page. — 00:04:48
  • 2021-09-03 · We broke up… — Ali says that when he drove home from work for the last time he meant to travel the world, but the pandemic kept him in Cambridge for a whole year, where he launched the YouTuber Academy, wrote the book and built a team, none of which he had expected. — 00:11:26
  • 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — Ali has told himself to wake at seven every day for three hours of morning writing; that morning he wrote for about half an hour before an eye appointment, as random things keep getting in the way. — 00:13:00
  • 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — announcement: Ali's book should come out in about two years if everything goes according to plan. (hedged) — 00:13:54
  • 2021-10-29 · 8 Lessons I Learned From Elon Musk — Ali: Working on his book, Ali had a three-hour writing session that morning and in between took a 15 to 20 minute shower, enjoying it and mulling over his ideas. — 00:03:05
  • 2021-10-29 · 8 Lessons I Learned From Elon Musk — Ali: In the book he is working on, Ali explores the idea that when we see work as having to be hard and suffering, we imagine things harder than they are and spin our wheels doing what looks like work. — 00:14:21